Latest news with #ParkwayIntermediate
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ephrata schools mulling bond package for spring 2026
May 29—Correction: The term defease was misstated as defuse in the first quote of this story. It has been corrected below. EPHRATA — The Ephrata Facility Study Group meeting discussed several options for potential bond packages for the upcoming school year. "We really began this work about a year and a half ago when it became apparent that we were going to need to defease some of the dollars that were associated with the 2019 bond," Ephrata School District Superintendent Ken Murray said. "We weren't going to be able to complete all the projects that we believed we were going to be able to in that bond." No decisions have been finalized at this time; however, the district did discuss the community's input for the Community Facility Survey in regard to a potential 2026 bond along with information from building surveys. "As we approach the end of another incredible school year, I want to take a moment to say thank you — for your continued support, partnership and most recently, your thoughtful participation in our Community Facility Survey," Murray said in a statement. Surveys The district has completed both a community survey and a survey of the conditions of the buildings across the district. "The bond process starts with a survey of your facilities. Our architect comes in and takes a look at the conditions of our facilities, to really identify where your facility needs are the greatest," Murray said. The study analyzed seven schools within the district. A higher rating means the building is in better condition. An engineering consultant reviewed the district's facilities and their current conditions and found that the Grant Elementary and Parkway Intermediate campuses were in need of significant remodeling or replacement. (See graphic attached to this story.) According to the district survey of the community, residents expressed Grant and Parkway elementaries as being the highest priority. Then, improving the high school was also a serious priority, but slightly lower than the elementary schools. The performing arts center was discovered as the third priority following elementary schools and high schools. Other top priorities include safety and security for students, gym facilities, and preference for current grade configurations with neighborhood schools. There was no strong preference for the historical preservation of any building. "We know that not all of our schools have seen the same level of modernization," Murray said in a statement. "And as a district that is considered property-poor, we face very real limitations in the funds we can generate locally to update and improve our facilities. That's a key reason why we're committed to listening, learning and planning carefully—always with students at the center." Funding models Right now, the district is discussing eight potential funding models for the potential bond. Four of the models range from $4.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value up to $4.80 per $1,000. Each model has a $0.10 difference per $1,000. The projected bond amounts for these models range from $59.5 million to $66.7 million, according to a presentation by the Ephrata Facility Study Group. There are also four potential models for a $0.50 step down in 2039 with the same range of $4.50 to $4.80 per $1,000. The projected bond amounts for these models range from $55.7 million to $62.8 million. "It's as if you took $0.50 cents and took it off at the tail end, so you took a step down," Public Relations Director Sarah Morford said. "So, it goes from $4.60 to $4.10 or something like that in the later years of planning. That allows you to be able to bring in another levy or another bond without a massive impact on the taxpayers, because you're planning for it. In summary, it is starting to whittle the amount of money taxpayers are paying for the bond and it's being dropped to help accommodate an additional tax later, if needed." Three options Option one is replacing Grant Elementary, adding a gym to Parkway Intermediate and adding to plus modernizing the Ephrata High School Performing Arts Center and Beezley buildings. In this plan, Grant Elementary would be demolished and a new 26-classroom school would replace it. The anticipated cost for this project is $47.5 million with $37 million coming from local funds. At Parkway, a gymnasium would be added, which would cost around $7.4 million, all of which would be local funds. A new auditorium would be installed in the Beezley Building on the Ephrata High School campus, a new gym added, decommissioning of the performing arts center gym, demolishing the performing arts center auditorium, modernizing the Beezley class wings, adding a new main and event entry, adding a new office suite and adding two additional classrooms. The proposed cost for the high school is around $42.5 million, with $23 million protected to come from local funding. The total cost for this proposed plan is $97 million, with around $67 million coming from local funds. Option two also includes replacing Grant Elementary. However, instead of adding a gym at Parkway Intermediate, the entire school would be replaced with a new 20-classroom school building at a cost of around $32.8 million. About $23.3 million would be local funds. Option three also includes replacing Grant Elementary, nothing being done to Parkway Intermediate and modernizing and adding to the Ephrata High School Performing Arts Center and Beezley buildings as noted in Option One. The projected cost of this plan is around $90 million, with around $60 million coming from local funds. Looking forward The Ephrata School District has not adopted any proposed bond packages to place on a ballot for voters. However, they will meet one more time on June 2 before the school year ends. Then, the district will reconvene in September to finalize one of these plans. "Right now, we are taking all of that feedback that we've gotten through surveys, through community surveys, staff surveys, through our architect, looking at our facilities, and then really trying to identify, taking all of that into account, what's an appropriate bond package," Murray said. "That's what we're trying to build right now, is put together a bond package for a board to consider for a potential 2026 bond."
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Building their way to nationals
May 15—EPHRATA — Ten sixth-grade Parkway Intermediate students, two advisors and a LEGO robot named Jeff will travel to New Jersey this week for the national LEGO Robotics championship. For a handful of the students, this is their first time on a plane, for others, their first time on the East Coast. For all of them, it will be their first time competing in the national LEGO championship. "It was a really good experience working together because we all got to work as a team together. We do have some coders that code and people who worked on the innovation project, but we all share what we learned throughout the day," Liliana Zaets said. "It was a really good experience because we learned a lot of things." The Parkway Pizzazz team competed in state Jan. 18 and won the "Breakthrough" award at state competition. The award entered them into a lottery to compete at nationals. The group was selected from the lottery and now they are on their way to the American Robotics Open Competition in New Jersey. "It felt really good winning because we weren't expecting to win, because we were going up against really good and really hard robotics teams," Parkway Pizzazz member Kamberly Hurlburt said. The competition has two parts: a research presentation with the theme "exploration" and the LEGO robotics presentation. The students have been working on both pieces twice a week since September, with students meeting daily closer to the competitions. For many of the students, this is their second year competing in LEGO robotics competitions. The Ephrata School District did a send-off for the team Wednesday morning. The team had the opportunity to run through Parkway Intermediate and out the doors through a flag tunnel to their departing vehicles. S.P.A.C.E Germs "Hello, we are C.O.R.A.L., also known as the Cooperative, Organized Researchers that Are Luminous," Isabelle Darby said as she opened their presentation. "Because we are bright and sparkly, we created S.P.A.C.E Germs to save our oceans from invasive algal blooms that detriment our economy." Hailey Forrest explained that a problem they found is that coral is dying because there are too many algae or cyanobacteria. Forrest said that the cyanobacteria produce a lot of oxygen during photosynthesis, which rises and floats away. As a result, oxygen levels in the ocean are lower than preferred. "We began researching what caused coral to die, like benzene in sunscreen," Mabel Chamberlin said. "We realized coral died because of dead zones, possibly agricultural runoff. We then created a bacterial germ to attack the algae. We then realized it would be more effective to use a virus with a predator-and-prey relationship because there are less complications and setbacks. With more research, our project blossomed into what it is today." Students then spoke with San Diego State University professor Dr. Forest Rohwer, a researcher with the Department of Biology. Rohwer specializes in marine biology and specifically coral reefs. "When the cyanobacteria photosynthesize, (they create) extra sugar that sinks to the coral," Kamberly Hurlburt said. "The coral reefs then die, then the fish die too. When our coral reefs die, it affects everyone from fishermen who fish for a living to you." Kali Hurlburt explained that their solution is S.P.A.C.E. Germs, which stands for Super Powerful and Carefully Engineered Germs. "S.P.A.C.E. Germs are genetically engineered cyanophages, a type of virus that kills cyanobacteria, stopping harmful algae blooms," Kali Hurlburt said. "Because so many people depend on coral for food and money, this is very essential." Kali Hurlburt explained that they will explore dead zones in the ocean using the International Space Station. "We would start by exploring, using visualization tools and then track the growing dead zones so we can use the Germs to solve the problem," Kali Hurlburt said. Darby said the S.P.A.C.E. Germs are bioengineered cyanophages that will kill the cyanobacteria by latching onto the cyanobacteria host cell. She said that Rohwer explained that the cyanophage then injects its DNA, which will rapidly replicate itself, into the host cell. Once mature, the cyanophages will burst from the host cell, killing the cyanobacteria in the process. "There is a natural predator vs. prey control so the cyanobacteria will not all die in the ocean," Darby said. The students found an article by the National Institute of Health that proved their hypotheses, Chamberlin said. The students decided to use the International Space Station as a testing point because the satellites will help with exploration and, with it being in space, they will be able to control all variables, including temperature, light, water pressure and nutrient content. The students also made an example of an anaerobic chamber which the scientists in space would use for experiments. The students also wondered if by being in space the phage would replicate quicker. "Since space provides an atmosphere with little to no oxygen content, the germs will kill the algae and we will monitor them," Calista Trejo said. "The germs will not kill all the algae, only enough to keep the coral safe. This is due to the Laca Volterra dynamics, which means we would rely on predator-and-prey relationships. The phage is a predator, and the cyanobacteria are the prey. It would naturally eliminate itself because of a balance in nature." The students made two poster boards, both with infographics designed and researched by students. They also made a video discussing their project, which can be watched here: The team also made a song using artificial intelligence and their information, which can be found here: LEGO The second part of the competition involves the LEGO robot and a course with several challenges on which the students have been working all year. The robot, Jeff, who will be in his fifth competition, will have several assignments as the competition begins, including knocking things over, lifting flags, moving pieces and spinning things. All of these challenges have been coded by the team for the robot to handle. For each challenge the students accomplish, they will receive points towards their total. "It's pretty chaotic. There's a lot of people screaming; mostly you hear cheers. They take one team into a classroom with two judges, and then we have our board, and we have our script, and we tell them our presentation," Makayla Pellam said. "We bring Jeff in on the board, and we tell a bunch of facts, and we do a robot presentation. There's also coding." The students explained the judges walk around and see how the teams are doing with cooperation and sportsmanship. "That's where we came up with the line: 'don't forget your Chapstick,' which is our code for ... be mature and show your core values," Darby said. "Because the judges are the Chapstick and, instead of being like, 'There's a judge,' you have to be low-key about it." The students scored around 200 points at state, but they have since added more things to their board in hopes of getting more points. "I am confident that we can do this," Zaets said. "We can do this and extra. Last year, we did a little bit extra. This year, we did a little bit extra, and I am feeling confident that we can do extra. If we mess up, we get three tries, so if we miss one, we can go back to them on our other try."
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gilreath appointed as new principal at Parkway Intermediate
Apr. 21—EPHRATA — The Ephrata School District has announced Kim Gilreath's appointment as the next principal of Parkway Intermediate School, effective July 1, 2025. Gilreath will succeed current principal Jeremy Vasquez, who plans to return to the classroom. With over 25 years of experience in various educational capacities, Gilreath said she brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to this role. Gilreath's career spans diverse positions, including preschool director and middle school assistant principal. Currently serving as the assistant principal at Sultan Middle School, she has demonstrated a robust commitment to behavior management, social-emotional learning, and Career and Technical Education programming. Her appointment is poised to foster growth and innovation within Parkway Intermediate. "Kim is a high-energy, thoughtful leader who puts students at the center of everything she does," said Ken Murray, Superintendent of the Ephrata School District, in a statement. "She's passionate about building strong relationships, thinking creatively, and working collaboratively to do what's best for kids. Kim is deeply committed to effective teaching and holding students to high academic and behavioral expectations, believing that all students can grow when appropriately supported and challenged." Gilreath holds a master's degree in school administration from Central Washington University and a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Washington, along with multiple endorsements, including CTE certification. She said her educational background equips her with the skills necessary to lead Parkway Intermediate as it navigates the complexities of middle school education. "I'm thrilled to be joining the Parkway Intermediate team," she said. "One of the things that really drew me to this school is its strong commitment to character development in students. I love building connections, thinking outside the box, and working collaboratively with staff and families to do what's best for kids." Gilreath said that fifth and sixth grades are her favorite group of students to be around because they are young enough that they are still full of energy and they still think she is "cool," but old enough to begin making decisions for their futures. "This is such a unique and important time — it's where elementary students begin to discover who they're becoming as young adults," she said. "I'm honored to be part of that journey and can't wait to get started." With the ongoing challenges faced by schools nationwide, including learning loss due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilreath anticipates addressing these issues head-on. "I think schools across the country are still seeing challenges with learning loss," she said. "It's essential that we acknowledge and address this for the benefit of our students." As Parkway Intermediate has seen enrollment growth, Gilreath believes that while this is a positive indicator of the school's reputation, it also presents challenges. "Ephrata is growing, which is a good problem, but we must ensure that we plan for the future. Parkway is an older building facility, and we're using lots of portables. We need to thoughtfully plan for the future to provide students with all the opportunities we want for them," she said. Engaging with students is a fundamental aspect of Gilreath's vision for her leadership. "I just love kids, so I plan on talking to them, spending time with them, and getting to know them. I want to find out what they think is important and what gets them excited to show up every day," she said. Her strategies include establishing student committees and conducting regular temperature checks, allowing students to voice their opinions and needs. Outside her professional duties, Gilreath said she holds a strong belief in community involvement. Growing up in Billings, Mont., and educated at the University of Washington, she said she has a personal connection to Ephrata and regards it as a strong community supportive of educational initiatives. She also said she frequently visited Ephrata while her children competed in sporting events and to visit her family members who live nearby. "I love that it's a small enough town that you have a really strong sense of community. Everyone truly has a heart for seeing kids do well," she said. As her inaugural year approaches, Gilreath aims to foster a positive school culture where both students and staff feel valued. "I think we can be stronger together," she said. "I'm really excited for the opportunity to join a strong team in reaching our kids."
